As OGSO welcomes the Walkupiers, Chapel Hill sends the following to our Governor:

December 27, 2011

Office of the Governor Bev Perdue

20301 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699

OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR BEVERLY PERDUE

Madame Governor,

We, as Occupy Chapel Hill, petition you to aid in ensuring the safe passage of Walkupy, a group of people representing the Occupy Wall Street movement as they travel by foot from the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument in Washington, DC to his gravesite in Atlanta, Georgia: a feat of great admiration and commendation in the estimation of people across the country and the world. The Walkupy group has marched safely through the streets of Washington, DC and the countryside of the sovereign Commonwealth of Virginia without incident. Last week, they arrived in our fair state. To our amazement and shame, they became subjected to harassment by police officers in our capital city of Raleigh, during a peaceful march. They wrestled a female marcher to the ground, as is clearly visible in a variety of multi-media pictures and videos taken of the incident. Over half of the DC-to-GA marchers were arrested at that time; they are now out on bail. As they continued their march into Wake County, they were followed by a helicopter in the air and harassed by law enforcement on the ground. This is a sad commentary on social freedoms in our state.

We appeal to you in your wisdom and elected position of power to raise with state law enforcement officers the pertinent issues of protection of constitutional freedoms in North Carolina, as a viable component of the national Union. We assert that these marchers have proven to be non-violent and responsible in all actions to date in their effort to raise the national conscience concerning today’s significant issues affecting the majority of the country’s population: the 99%. As a nation, we are on the cusp of a new patriotic movement wherein, as Dr. King describes it, “America will finally live out the true meaning of its creed.”

As citizens of North Carolina, we in Occupy Chapel Hill aspire for our state to be an integral part of the Occupy marcher’s mission: to unite everyone in an effort to envision and create a new kind of society in which the needs of all human beings are put first. We also join with others of like thought across the state to uphold the purposes of this Walkupy march. We therefore ask that you do all in your power to support this worthy effort.

Forum Topics

Let’s Lose Our House: A Modern Foreclosure Tale

"Let's Lose Our House" is a smart and funny look at the often misunderstood roots of the housing crash. It premiered on March 14, 2012 at the Carolina Theatre and was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show. If you are interested in hosting a screening of it in your area, contact OGSO's Foreclosure Working group here.